Insights on Putin's Trustworthiness

Look, Mr. Putin is got, he got all, he's very smart.

Well, you know him better than most people.

Yeah, I did.

What, what was he like behind closed doors away

from, you know, the sort of

the public utterances?

Smart and, um,

remarkably, um,

we had a really good, blunt relationship.

How blunt?

Brutally blunt.

Ever like in a fisticuffs?

No, uh, no. But I think, you know, I think the right strategy

most of the time

is, but it's frustrating to people in your

line of work.

You should be brutally honest with people in private, and then if you want

them to help you, try to avoid embarrassing them in public.

Right.

Now, sometimes they do things which make it impossible for you

to keep quiet.

But by and large,

I found all the people I dealt with appreciated it if I told them the truth.

Did Putin-

How I honestly felt and what our interests were

and what our objectives were,

and they also appreciated it when I didn't kick them around in public

for as long as I couldn't kick them around.

So I, I, you know, that's my experience.

And-

Did Putin ever renege on a personal-

No

... agreement he made to you?

He did not.

So behind closed doors, he could be trusted?

He kept his word in all the deals we made.